- By: Libba Bray
- Reading level: Young Adive realities, boarding school, Fathers-Daughters, High Society, laudanum, magic, Mothers-Daughters, mythology, psychic abilities, racism, Romance, Secret Societiesult
- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, Random House
- Publishing Date: March 22, 2005
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385732317
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Historical Fiction
Series Title:
Series Title:
Gemma Doyle Trilogy
A Great and Terrible Beauty
Rebel Angels
The Sweet Far Thing
Subjects: Alternative Realities, Magic, Romance, Historical Fiction, Secret Societies
Reader's Annotation: After the death of her mother and the stunning realization that she has visions, Gemma Doyle is sent from her home in India to her birthplace of London and a boarding school for High Society women. It is there that she realizes the full extent of her powers and the powers that be.
Synopsis: As opulent as the times, the stunning and addicting story of Gemma Doyle begins in A Great and Terrible Beauty. Starting in the marketplace of India Gemma is longing to go to London to be a proper lady for her 16th birthday. Within a temper tantrum that has her mother trying to find her in the streets of this wild arena, death comes and so does a vision. Gemma is launched into her first vision while her mother is being murdered. From this point forward Gemma is never the same. The character we meet within the first pages quickly is transformed into the Gemma we travel with throughout the entire trilogy. And at her side when her mothers dies and throughout the rest of the take, is Kartik, an indian man who is somehow connected to her mother, to her, and a secret society called the Rakshana. What begins in this story is a rich and complex story of both reality and magic, love and loss, and philosophy and race. Within the school, Gemma befriends a small group of girls that discover her new world with her and help her to discover who she really is. With her new power the world is a new place.
Notes: Lovers of historical fiction with devour this trilogy. Although it has its ups and downs, the beginning to this trilogy will not disappoint. Although not terribly difficult to read, it is dense in metaphor, magic, mythology, philosophy, and race & gender issues. Another great book that both makes you think and takes you on an adventure. Ms. Bray obviously did her homework.
Stars: 5
Extras: The best young adult writer's website on the web. This website has inspired everything I have done since I saw it for the first time. An official book trailer is in the "parlor."
No comments:
Post a Comment